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Saturday, 11 August 2018

Chloe Westley And A Low Tax Visa

Few talking heads have appeared on broadcast media more regularly of late than Chloe Wesley, now alleged to be campaign manager for the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance. Whether it is BBC Question Time, any paper review session, or indeed any other politics offering, there she is, dispensing the customary Government-demonising wisdom so beloved of those who pass through the door of 55 Tufton Street.

Chloe Westley

Sadly, though, the public is becoming wise to the TPA and the rest of the alphabet soup of Astroturf lobby groups from SW1, and increasingly, the response to Ms Westley’s social media outpourings is one simple question - “who funds you”.

To this, she engages in characteristic dishonesty by telling those enquiring that there are “thousands” of small donations making up the TPA’s funding. This is complete drivel. We don’t get to know who funds such groups, or even whether the money comes only from the UK. But what we do know is that Ms Westley has her own little local difficulty right now.

That is the combination of her employment status, and the visa covering her stay in this country. Although she chides those who mention that she is not British, this is actually highly relevant: she is, by her own admission, in the UK on what is called a Tier 5 visa.

And the rules for a Tier 5 visa state that the holder cannot (a) take a permanent job, or (b) get public funds. So, TPA people, what is a “Campaign Manager”, if not a permanent job? Moreover, Ms Westley worked during the EU referendum campaign for Vote Leave, which was in receipt of around £650,000 of public funds. And it gets worse.

Ms Westley admitted she was on a T5 visa back in 2016, in an interview given her by then Tory London Mayoral hopeful Zac Goldsmith, who asked “Is that the visa you’re on?” to which she replied “Yes. So in 2019, if I’m not earning £35,000, I may be sent home” (for those who claim the TPA is “non-partisan”, that interview describes her as “Australian Times contributor and Conservative Party activist Chloe Westley”).

Then there is the sponsorship question. Marie-Anne Pollaud observed “Went on Chloe Westley's linkedin and boy is it a journey … she's had SEVEN nondescript right-wing libertarian gigs in as little as three years … her most notable and job-worthy experience was as a copywriting intern at Hays”. The T5 visa rules state “You need to have a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed sponsor before you can apply to come to the UK to work”. So who’s the sponsor? Curiouser and curiouser.

When Ms Westley snipes at former BBC man Gavin Esler “Hi @gavinesler - thanks for calling me a rising star in the @TheNewEuropean! Just wondering why you are so bothered about my nationality? Am I the wrong kind of immigrant, in your eyes?”, her nationality is not a trivial issue. And nor is the matter of whether she is “the wrong kind of immigrant”. Indeed, hers is the kind of case the Home Office should be investigating.

After all, if all those ghastly mainland Europeans, migrants from across Africa, and those coming here from the Middle East and Indian sub-continent are expected to play by the immigration rules, then so should everyone else. It’s only fair, after all.

And the TPA is all about fairness, isn’t it? I’ll just leave that one there.

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Another example of hypocrisy from virulent TPA supporter and all round liar Ian Duncan Smith just a few days ago:

“I think the best thing to do is work with what we have got and make it work for everyone around the world. You basically extend the work permit process across the EU and the rest of the world. People can come here for work but they need to have work to come to and that work needs to have been agreed and accepted that there isn’t a person in the UK that could do that work and has the skills to do that work.”

“A lot of employers simply have not even bothered to try and find UK people to work.”

How on Earth does Smith expect every immigrant to have lined up a job, 'agreed and accepted?' Immigrants are often moving to have a better life than the one they have, and the one they have may not include being able to be in constant mobile phone contact with a country a channel and landmass away. It is all very well for rich boy Smith, who can do such a thing.

There are a bunch of different Tier 5 Visas, She could be on the Youth Mobility Visa which allows you to work for the 2 year period, as long as you are younger than 31 when the visa starts. Does have no recourse for public funds as you say.https://www.gov.uk/tier-5-youth-mobility